Remembering Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra
His recent demise leaves a void in the world of dance. But it is a void competently filled by Kelucharan's worthy pupils, for the Guru was a teacher par excellence. A few of his able students who themselves are recognised as worthy Gurus are Madhavi Mudgal, Kumkum Mohanty, Aloka Kanungo and Paushali Chattopadhaya.
It was in the late 1980s through one of Kelucharan's students, Sani Mahapatra, that Dhaka's dancers first stepped into the world of Odissi. The exquisitely graceful tribhanga, the chowka, and pallavis were painstakingly taught to a class consisting of few of Dhaka's well-known dancers such as Minu Huq, Tamanna Rahman and myself. This was continued later by Ipsita Behura.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. It was, of course, my great fortune to be able to take part in a 15-day workshop on Odissi conducted by Guru Kelucharan himself. The style and its exquisite range of stances took a different dimension through Guruji's crystal clear execution of steps and his explanation of the inner dynamics of the style.
We are basically Manipuri dancers and the stance of Manipuri remains embedded almost in our psyche. It was Guruji's painstaking demonstration of the differences in stance and style that gave me a complete understanding of the Odissi dance form. The other remarkable feature of that workshop was Guruji's complete disregard of hierarchy and his eagerness to teach each participant to perfection, irrespective of their years and experience in the field of Odissi. Some of the other participants were Sujata Misra, Dona Ganguly, Rina Jana, all Odissi dancers of repute. To this day I remain grateful to Guruji for giving all of us equal time and guidance. Perfection in style remained for him the main goal rather than the teaching of items one after the other, each performances without an inkling of style and stance. It is a lesson, I as a dancer and teacher hope to emulate for as long as I dance.
Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra was born in Raghuraipur, a village in Orissa in 1926. He belonged to a family of patachitra painters who used to paint patachitras of Lord vcJagannath. He started learning Gotipura Nritya and Pakhawaj under the great gurus, Mohan Sundar Deva Goswami and Pankaj Charan Das at an early age. He performed with a Rasleela troupe before joining the theatre.
After Indian independence, he started to work to popularise Gotipua Nritya and the Mahar dance. His creative ability is very evident in his choreography, while it is also informed by his study of ancient scriptures and sculpture in the temples of Orissa. Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra's attitude towards dance was, in essence, devotional; to him dance was not so much a vocation as it was an expression of life. The late Sanjukta Panigrahi was one of the first of Guruji's disciples to receive international acclaim in the Odissi style.
Today, though Odissi still has room for popularity in Bangladesh, a small group of dancers remain devoted to the style. Minu Huq conducts Odissi classes in Dhaka. Further, it is the efforts of two young dancers, Benazir Salam Shumi (Dhaka) and Proma Abanti (Chittagong), which have given a new lease of life to Odissi.